CGF ARTICLES, OPINIONS & EDITORIALS
Will The Employment Equity Amendment Bill Unite South Africa? (2013-03-27)
February 20,
2015 3532 3532 
In recent years, South Africa has been a country characterised as one which has had the incredible ability to change; and somehow our country and her people have been able to embrace some of the most difficult changes in very trying circumstances.
Our country’s democracy -- underpinned by what many believe to be one of the world’s best Constitutions -- is just one example of the type of change we have undergone as a nation in order to ensure that there is fairness and equality amongst all its people.
Accordingly, in 1990 the release of our iconic statesman -- Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela -- was significant in many respects. Not only was this extraordinary South African event significant from a political perspective, it was also symbolic of forgiveness, fairness and freedom. Mandela’s release also personified the rights that every South African citizen should have, in particular the right to being treated equally and not discriminated against.
Expectedly change for some is not always easy to accept, neither embrace. Most often the reasons for delayed results, even after the change has been agreed, are often due to;
- poor processes to accommodate such change,
- poor policy and legislative frameworks, and
- people’s lethargy where in some cases they ‘hijack’ the change or process because they do not support it.
Focusing then upon the South African workplace; and prior to the unbanning of ‘apartheid’ in 1995, most of the professional workplace was reserved for white people.
People of colour, including women, were seldom afforded the opportunity to occupy any senior positions, let alone the chance for decent employment. Regrettably, the type and rate of change that was expected to occur across South Africa’s business and industrial sectors -- where there is a more inclusive and representative sample of race, gender and skill -- has generally not been substantially adopted, and practices of unfair discrimination are still reported regularly.
Whilst the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (EEA) intended to address workplace discrimination, the reality is that many companies in South Africa have cleverly ‘dodged’ its legal provisions and this has necessitated the changes now embodied in the new Employment Equity Amendment Bill, which was released in October 2012. While there are other labour laws such as the Labour Relations Act of 1995 and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act of 1997, the EEA has become an important part of labour law in South Africa. It offers employment policy that applies to all employers and workers, and protects both employees and job applicants from unfair discrimination. The EEA further provides a framework for implementing Affirmative Action (AA) measures which have been accepted into South African law. Whilst one of the main features of the EEA is the prohibition of unfair discrimination, it does not define the term “unfair discrimination” and it is therefore left to the discretion of the courts to resolve issues that are raised under the banner of discrimination.
